Gary Northfield, Saga of the Shooting Star (Leif the Unlucky Viking #1), Walker Books, December 2023, 320 pp., RRP $17.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781406383416
Leif the Unlucky Viking is a rollicking adventure for readers aged 7 to 9 with a good sense of humour who enjoy a hint of Norse mythology. It would be a great step before books like How to Train Your Dragon.
Leif the wolf cub knows he’s got it in him to be a Viking explorer and hero like his dad, Erik the Red, if he could just stop falling off things, and out of things, and stop accidentally breaking things… like his father’s ship, and the pig barn.
No one will ever take him seriously. And his father is definitely not going to let Leif go on his next expedition. When the witch Thorbjorg tells them about a star fallen to earth that must be found, however, Leif knows just how to prove himself as a capable Viking. Surely everyone will have to take him seriously if he comes back with the star…
Leif is full of a whole lot of uncontained energy and big intentions, who just wants a chance to prove himself. There are going to be many young readers who will identify with Leif’s exuberance, and enjoy the adventures as he sets out to show how brave and useful he can be.
What follows is a tale full of oddball adventures with an equally oddball and unlikely collection of adventurers, as they try to reach the star before Leif’s magic-wielding sister, Freydis, can snatch it from under their noses for her own nefarious purposes. Along the way, Leif collects Olaf the duck, Flora the musk ox who definitely doesn’t smell, and Toki the puffin who wouldn’t mind being a Viking, or maybe a goddess. The text is intercut with madcap cartoon-style illustrations that continue the dialogue at intervals, and add a fun energy to the story.
A running theme throughout the story is Leif’s insistence that he’s not unlucky (usually right before he falls into another hole). I like that by the end, Leif is essentially unchanged – as his father points out, You left us two days ago a strong-headed yet clumsy cub, and you came back a strong-headed yet clumsy cub, but one who has faced great danger, led selflessly and learnt to work with others. He is who he has always been but has had a chance to learn and show what he is capable of, and to show his brave heart.
This is a book that stands on its own, but there is plenty of scope for future adventures with Leif. Let’s hope he takes to the high seas again soon!
Reviewed by Emily Clarke
